Saturday, March 29, 2008

JOHN CALE ON I'VE GOT A SECRET, 1963!

Brought to my attention courtesy of none other than Joe Carducci, this clip from the fifties/sixties tee-vee game show I'VE GOT A SECRET certainly is a rarity from the vaults where special guest John Cale (a.k.a. "Mr. X") and a fellow boho appear in connection with the then-recent eighteen-hour performance of Erik Satie's "Vexations"! (See Victor Bokris and Gerard Malanga's Velvet Underground book for more info on that proto-avant garde composition written in the 1890's.) Considering how SECRET used to play up moderne aht for all the strange qualities that could be exploited outta it (witness the John Cage appearance from around the same time not to mention this one episode where Alan King introduced a man who made abstract art timepieces!) I must say that Gary Moore and company sure did a good job hiding their usual confusion (though catch that smirk on Henry Morgan's face as the camera pans the panel during Cale's musical spot!). Anyway, for those of you who were not allowed to stay up late on Sunday nights back in the early-sixties, here's a pre-Reed John Cale on prime-time tee-vee '63: